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That is very interesting and it is certainly an issue that all medal collectors should be aware of, I think if these particular medals were actually being sold here in Great Britain at some point, you have proof that they had actually been stolen and the Metropolitan Police have their own record of the incident on file, then I think you would have a very strong case indeed, it becomes problematic when they are no longer in this country.

Timothy wrote: Dear Gail,

I am doing some research into the life of my grandfather, Walter Karri-Davies and came across this thread regarding his medals. I must tell you that these medals were stolen from my mother's ( his daughter's) house in London about 35/40 years ago along with other much treasured mementos from his time in the Boar War. I do still have his gold cuff links with the emblem and motto of the ILH enameled on them and a good number of papers.
I am certain the medals have been bought in totally good faith but I would love to buy them back for the family if the opportunity ever arises qnd would be grateful if you could pass this message on to the current owner.
Thank you.

Tim O'Rorke

Gail
Recovery would be very difficult; given the jurisdictions involved. Even if a certain happening in London all those years ago could be proven, then you have the recent seller of the medal group being in the US; not to mention the recent buyer being in Australia! Possibly best to leave things alone.
Regards
IL.

Hello Ian,
If "Gail" was actually in England and if records had been kept by Tim's family and the Metropolitan Police with an adequate level of proof of original ownership, she would certainly be guilty of a criminal act.
It really does not matter how many times they have been sold, if they were offered for sale here in Great Britain and if Tim had all the above from a legal point of view, I would expect English law to apply and Tim's family to recover what allegedly legally belongs to them.
It is certainly rather more than a shame, when one hears of this sort of thing happening, truly sickening in my opinion.
Regards Frank

LinneyI wrote: Gail
Recovery would be very difficult; given the jurisdictions involved. Even if a certain happening in London all those years ago could be proven, then you have the recent seller of the medal group being in the US; not to mention the recent buyer being in Australia! Possibly best to leave things alone.
Regards
IL.

I know it has been quite a few years since these sold but I was just on the blog and noticed this person accusing me of STEALING these medals. If he had done his research he would have seen that in the listing I provided definitive "PROVENANCE" about the items.

Below is a link to the obituary for Anne (Howard) Karri-Davies who was from a prominent family from Boston Massachusetts. She was the great grand-daughter of a famous
Boston Governor William Gaston. Hence the connection between the Gaston"s and the Karri-Davies. I don't remember how Walter T.C. Karri-Davies (Anne's husband) was related to the Major but I know that he was. This puts the possibility of the medals in the Gaston/Karri-Davies side of the family. We have been dealing with a descendant of the Gaston familty for some years now. We are an antique store that is right over the line from Massachusetts. We have brokered many high end items from this member of the family. All of this was stated in the description of my listing.

Although there still seems to be much unclear information about the Major we know that he definitely lived in the U.S for some time. There are many references to him living in San Francisco.

This is NOT my first rodeo as they say here, and I have been in the antiques business approaching 40 years. Our reputation here is impeccable, we do our homework and I just wish the member who called me a thief would have done his due diligence also.

www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/ob...davies&pid=152137953